Sewing machine



T. H. DE SPAIN SEWING MACHINE Oct. 20, 1964 9 Sheets-Sheet 1 Filed April 23, 1959 II I. [I'll I L.

- INVENTOR. Thoma: H De A TTOR/VEYS Oct. 20, 1964 T. H. DE SPAIN 3,153,393

SEWING max-1mm Filed April 25. 1959 9 Sheets-Sheet 2 INVENTOR.

A 7'TORNE Y5 Oct. 20, 1964 T. H. DE SPAIN 3,153,393

SEWING MACHINE Filed April 23. 1959 9 Sheets-Sheet 3 Tlzomasfif DeSpa/irz A T TUBA 5X5 R m E Q3 W uh wh 7 /I1||] M O i l I W M $k.t\ \I Oct. 20, 1964 'r. H. DE SPAIN 3,153,393

SEWING MACHINE Filed April 23, 1959 9 Sheets-Sheet 5 IN VEN TORY. Zzomas HDeSpajn wad/W A TTOR/VfYS Oct. 20, 1964 T. H. DE SPAIN SEWING MACHINE Filed April 23, 1959 9 Sheets-Sheet 6 INVENTOR. Tfiomasfi De A TTORNE Y5 Och 1964 T. H. DE SPAIN 3,153,393

SEWING MACHINE Filed April 23, 1959 9 Sheets-Sheet 7 I wnn fumuii llfllulllllllll gaamm Oct. 20, 1964 T. H. DE SPAIN 3,153,393

sswmc: momma Filed April 23, 1959 9 Sheets-Sheet 8 INVENTOR.

Thomas H Da vain Maw Oct. 20, 1964 T. H. DE SPAIN 3,153,393

sswmc momma Filed April 23, 1959 9 Sheets-Sheet 9 Thomasjl. Da vain 4 TTORNE Y6 UnitedStates Patent 3,153,393 SEWING MACHINE Thomas H. De Spain, Paducah, Ky., assigns! to Southern Textile Machinery (30., Incorporated, Paducah, Ky, a corporation of Kentucky Filed Apr. 23, 195$, Ser. No. 898,402 13 Claims. (Cl. 112--2.5)

This invention relates to sewing machines, and more particularly to improvements in dial looper sewing machines which are employed to join adjacent loops of two portions of knitted fabric by an elastic chain of stitches.

Dial looper sewing machines of the general class with which the present invention is concerned conventionally include a rotatable dial constructed with a plurality of radially projecting work impaling points. Portions of knitted fabric to be joined by the machine are placed upon the points with a loop of each portion supported upon a work impaling point. The dial is driven in rotation to rotate the points past a stitch forming station at which a thread needle isreciprocated longitudinally along each point as the point passes the station. The thread carried by theneedle is manipulated by a looper mechanism to form an elastic chain of loops joining the loops of the knitted portions of the material' A typical dial looper sewing machine of this type is shown in my United States Patent No. 2,167,104 granted luly 25, 1939.

As shown in my aforementioned patent, the stitch forming elements move in fixed paths relative to a fixed frame, or in other words, the stitch forming station is at a fixed location. conventionally, the material to be stitched is manually placed on the work impaling points by an operator working on that portion of the dial substantially opposite the stitch forming station. Because of the fixed location of the stitch forming station, it is quite difiieult to manipulate the work to join two portions of material where the entire length of the seam to be formed cannot be fed to the stitch forming station continuously. One example of a seam of this type would be the joining of a collar to a sweater body which requires the formation of an endless or circular seam around the neck opening. In such a case, the entire edge to be joined could not be placed upon the work impaling points at one time and must be joined in sections, a joined section being removed from the points after transit of the stitch forming station to permit a subsequent unjoined portion to be placed upon points to be advanced to the stitch forming station.

it isa primary object of the invention to provide a high speed dial loop-er sewing machine for forming stitches in work material supported upon a rotatable dial at locations relative to the fixed frame portions of the machine which may be varied to suit the convenience of the operator.

Another object of the invention is to provide a dial looper sewing machine wherein material supported on the dial is readily accessible to the operator regardless of th relation of the material to the stitch forming elements of the machine. I

Another object of the invention is to provide a dial looper sewing machine in which a rotataole work supporting dial may be manually rotated to suit the convenience of the operator without discontinuing synchronized operation of the stitch forming r'nechanism;

The foregoing and other objects are achieved in a dial looper sewing machine in which a mechanism housing is fixedly mounted upon a dial race. A work supporting dial is rotatably supported in the dial race for rotation relative to the race and housing about an axis extending vertically through the housing. The race and housing are in turn supported from a fixed support in a manner such 3,153,393 Patented Oct. 20., 1964 ICE '9 all that the housing and dial race may rotate relative to the fixed support about the axis of rotation of the work supporting dial. A drive shaft for driving the stitch forming mechanism supported in the housing and the work supporting dial in synchronized movement is mounted in the fixed support for rotation coaxially with the dial axis and axis of rotary adjustment of the housing and race relative tothe fixed support. Thus, the dial and stitch forming mechanism within the housing may be driven in stitch forming movement regardless of the rotary orientation of the housing to the fixed support.

The stitch forming mechanism and dial race are coupled by mechanism within the housing so that stitch forming movement of the stitch forming mechanism is synchronized with rotary movement of the dial relative to the housing. Since the housing, dial and drive shaft are mounted upon the fixed support for coaxial relative rotation, either the housing or the dial may be held sta tionary or both housing and dial may rotate during the stitch forming operation.

The mechanism coupling the stitch forming mechanism and dial includes a positive engagememt clutch which may he released to permit the dial to be rotated relative to the housing and re-engaged at any rotative location which 18 lll synchronism with the particular position of the stitch forming elements within their cycle of movement. in addition, a positive engagement clutch is provided between the drive shaft mounted in the fixed support and the mechanism within the housing to uncouple the machine from a constantly driven shaft without shutting down the power input to the drive shaft.

Other objects and features of the invention will become apparent by reference to the following specification taken in conjunction with the accompanying drawings.

in the drawings: j

FIG. 1 is a plan view of one form of dial looper sewing machine embodying the present invention;

FIG. 2 is a side elevational view of the machine shown in FIG. 1;

FIG. 3 is a cross sectional view of the machine of FIG. 1 taken approximately on the line 3-3 of FIG. 1;

FIG. 4 is a cross sectional View of the machine of FIG. 1 taken on line 4-4 of FIG. 2;

FlG..5 is a cross sectional view of the machine of FIG. 1 taken one line 5 of FIG. 2;

FIG. 6 is a detail cross sectional view of the machine of FIG. 1 taken on line s s of FIG. 2;

FIG. 7 is a detail cross sectional view of the machine of FIG. 1 taken on line 7'?' of FIG; 2;

PEG. 8 is a detail cross sectional view of a portion of FIG. ltaken on line FlG. 12 is a detail cross sectional View of a portion of the machine of FIG. 1 taken online l2--l2; of FIG. 3;

FlG. 13 is a side elevational view withcertain parts broken away and other parts shown in section of another form of dial looper sewingmachine embodying the pres,

ent invention; I s

FIG. 14 is a partial detail View of the machine of FIG.

13 taken on line lid-1d of PEG. l3; and

PEG. 15 is a detail view of the drive mechanism for the dial of the machine of FEGS. 13 and 14 with certain parts broken away and others shown in section.

In the embodiment shown in FIGS. 1 and 2 of the drawings, the assembly includes a fixed table 20 upon which is rigidly mounted a support frame 22 which includes an integral outwardly projecting arm 24. At the outer end of arm 24 a housing assembly is supported from arm 24-, the housing assembly including a generally vertically extending main drive mechanism housing 26 and a stitch forming mechanism housing 28 which is removably mounted upon and projects from one side of drive mechanism housing 26. A circular dial race assembly 3t) is fixedly secured to the lower end of housing 26 to rotatably support a work supporting dial 32 for rotation about an axis co-incident with the vertical center line of housing 26. Dial 32 is provided with a plurality of radially projecting work supporting points 244 upon which the loops of material to be joined are manually placed. A pair of thread bobbins are supported at the outer end of arm 24 as at 34 to support a thread supply for the stitch forming mechanism to be described in greater detail below.

Referring now particularly to FIGS. 1, 3, and 5, a drive shaft 36 is rotatably supported in support frame 22 by means of a pair of spaced bearings 38, the outer races of which are fixedly mounted upon frame 22 by a tubular housing 4% which is bolted to frame 22 as by bolts 42. A pair of pulleys 44 and 4d are mounted at fixed axial positions adjacent the outer end of shaft 36 for engagement with a drive belt 43 driven by suitable means (not shown). Pulley as is freely rotatable upon shaft 36 while pulley is keyed to shaft 36. A belt shifter assembly St) is mounted upon table 20 in position to manually shift belt 48 into driving engagement with either of pulleys 44 or 46. Pulley 46 thus acts as an idler pulley to permit operation of the machine to be discontinued without stopping the prime mover which drives belt 48.

An additional pulley 52 is fixedly mounted on the inner end of shaft 325 and traversed by endless drive belt 54 whose opposite runs are respectively trained over a pair of direction changing pulleys d and S8 rotatably supported upon a shaft 60 mounted in the upper portion of support frame 22. As best seen in FIG. 3, belt 54 is extended outwardly through arm 24 and trained around a pulley $52 which is fixedly mounted upon drive shaft 64 rotatably supported within a bearing 66 mounted in the upper end of drive mechanism housing as.

Housing 26 is supported at the outer end of arm 24 by the inter-engagement between a support plate 68 bolted to arm 24 by means of four bolts ill. Plate 68 has a circular opening 72 within which is received an upwardly projecting annular flange 74- integrally formed on housing 26. A circular collar 76 is rigidly bolted as by bolts '78 to the top of flange 7a and projects outwardly from the flange to overlie the upper surface of plate 68. Circular opening 72 in plate 63 and the outer surface of flange '74 arein rotary sliding engagement with each other to permit housing 26 to be adjusted rotatably upon arm 24, the rotative adjustment taking place about the axis of shaft Since housings 2:5 and 2E3 may be positioned at selected positions of rotary adjustment upon arm 24 about the axis of shaft 64, the mechanism contained in housings 26 and 28 is in operative driving relationship with shaft 64 at any position of rotary adjustment. Housing 25 may be locked in the selected position on arm 24 by a clamping screw 8% threadably engaged in the outer end of arm 24 which may be clamped against the outer annular surface of collar 7d. Normally, housings 2d and 23 are disposed in the position shown in FIG. 1 wherein housing 28 directly underlies arm 24. To establish this normal position, a pin 32 is mounted in collar 76 and projects upwardly from the collar in a. position to engage a fixed stop arm 84 which is bolted upon fixed plate 6%.

As best seen in FIG. 3, housing as is formed with a pair of inwardly projecting arms 86, 88 within which a pair of bearings 90, 92 respectively support a main drive shaft 94 in concentric axial alignment with shaft Between arm 35 and the upper end of housing 26, a gravitationally engaged clutch assembly of the positive engagement type designated generally 96, is located to normally establish a rotary driving connection between axially aligned drive shaft 64 and main drive shaft 94. Clutch assembly 96 will be described in greater detail below.

Between arms 86 and 83, a bevel gear $8 is pinned to main drive shaft 94 for rotation with the shaft and meshes with a bevel gear 1% which is pinned to one end of stitch forming mechanism drive shaft 162. Shaft MP2 is rotatably supported at either end by bearings 1M and 1% respectively, each of bearings 1M and 169 being mounted in housing 23. As best seen in FIG. 3, the axis of rotation of shaft 1&2 is coplanar with the axis of rotation of shafts 64 and 94, the axis of rotation of shaft 102 being inclined upwardly somewhat from the horizontal in order to accommodate the motions of the stitch forming mechanism driven from shaft 122.

Housing 28 is formed separately from housing 26 and is bolted to one side of housing 26 by means of bolts 1%. As best seen in FlG. 7, bolts 1% pass through vertically elongated openings 11% in the side wall of housing 28 so that housing 28 may be vertically adjusted along the side of housing 2%. To precisely set the vertical position of housing 28 on the side of housing 26 so that the stitch forming mechanism in housing 2% is accurately positioned in relationship to dial $2, a set screw 112 having an enlarged head 114 is threaded within a boss 116 formed in the side wall of housing 23, head 11d of screw 112 overhanging a ledge 118 on housing 26 to accurately set the vertical position of housing 28.

Rotation of shaft M2 serves to drive a looper mechanism designated generally 121) including a looper 121 and a thread needle mechanism desi nated generally 122 including a thread needle 123. The particular mechanisms 126 and 122 form no part of the present invention per se, and are generally similar in construction and operation to mechanism disclosed in my United States Patent No. 2,167,104.

The basic motion of looper 121 is a reciprocation along a path tangential to the outer periphery of work supporting dial 32. Thread needle 123 is driven in reciprocation radially of dial 32 to pass thread through the loops of work material supported upon points 244 radially outwardly into the path of movement of looper 121. Thread needle 123 points radially outwardly of the dial and is shown in FIG. 3 at its inner limit of movement wherein the point of needle 12.?) is located radially inwardly of work supporting points 244. Since dial 32 is continuously rotated during the stitch forming operation, it is necessary that needle 123 be driven in movement circumferentially of the dial. The basic movement of needle 121 might be best described as a longitudinal reciprocation along each of the radially extending Work supporting points 244 as the points are successively rotated into operative relationship with needle 123. The relative movements of needle 123 and looper 121 are described in detail in my United States Patent No. 2,167,104.

Certain parts of thread needle mechanism 122 are employed in the operation of clutch 96, reference is made to FIGS. 3 and 7 wherein it will be noted that mechanism 122 includes a shaft 124 rotatably supported in housing 28 and driven from shaft W2 by means of a gear connection 126. Shaft 12 i is rotatably supported at each end in bearings respectively mounted in a boss 128 on the rear a counterclockwise direction as viewed in FIG. 9. j movement of rod'14tl to the lert'in FIG. 9 corresponds 28 to project through an opening between arms 86 and 88 into the interior of housing 26.

Push rod 140 is supported within bores 138 and 142 for both rotary and axial sliding movement within the respective bores. Referring now to FIG. 8, an arm 144 is clamped to rod 140 as by a bolt 146 and is bent to project from housing 28 through an opening 148 in a cover plate 150 (see FIG. 2). In addition to arm 144, a finger 152 is bolted to rod 140 to project upwardly from the rod on the opposite side of shaft 124 from arm 144.

Referring now to FIG. 3, it will be seen that rod 149 projects through the inner side wall 132 of housing 23 to abut one arm of a bell crank 154 which is pivotally supported upon the shank of a bolt 1% fixed to a bearing support projection am inner side wall 132. The opposlte arm of bell crank 154 is bored to pivotally receive one end of a link 16% which is coupled at its other end to the yoke 162 of clutch 96. As best seen inFlG. 12, the left-hand end of yoke 162 is pivotally supported from the side wall of housing 26 for rotation about a horizontal axis established by a pivot pin 164. Inwardly projecting pins 166 carried by the opposite arms of yoke 162 are received within an annular groove 163 cut around the periphery of a tubular clutch operator or coupling member 170 which is slidably received upon aligned shafts 64 and 94. Diametrically extending pins 172 are fixed to operator 170 and extend entirely across the central passage 170. A relatively shallow notch in the upper end (FIG. 3) of shaft 94 receives the lowermost of pins 172,

while the lower end of shaft 64 is provided with a much.

deeper notch which receives the uppermost pin 172. The uppermost pin 172 is always within the slot at the lower end of shaft 64, while upward movement of the operator 170 can disengage the lowermost pin 172 from main drive shaft 94, thus disconnecting the driving connection between the two shafts. Since operator 170 is freely slidiable upon the two shafts, it is gravitationally biased to its lowermost position in which the driving connection is made between shafts 64 and 94.

Referring now to FIG. 7 a lever 17s is pivotally supported upon a pin 178 mounted on bracket 134. The left-hand end of lever 176 engages a notch 18% in shaft 140 to prevent rotation of rod 146 in a clockwise direc tion in FIG. 7. Lever 1'76 is in turn maintained in the position shown in FIG. 7 by thread which passes from supply 34 to the stitch forming mechanism over a pair of spaced thread guides 182 mounted on cover plate 150 on opposite sides of the projecting portion of lever 176. The thread is supported upon the tops of thread guides 182 and the right-hand end (PEG. 7) of lever 1176 rests upon the top of the thread between thread guides 15: 2. Upon the occurrence of a break or interruption in the supply of thread, to the stitch forming elements, elever 176 is free to pivot in a clockwise direction as viewed in FIG. 7, thus raisingits left-hand clear of notch 13d in shaft 140. By virtue of the geometrical relationship between arm 144 and the axis oferod 14d, arm 144 gravitationally causes rod 140 to rotate in a clockwise direction from the full line position of FIG. B'to the dotted line position of FIG. 8. I i v i :This action carries with it finger 152 and causes the upper end of the finger to move against the side surface of a rotating member 184 which is eccentrically mounted upon shaft 124. A projecting pin 1% is mounted upon member l84and, as best seen in FIG. 9, will engage finger 152 to drive the finger, and hence push'rod 146i, to the left as viewed in PEG. 9 as pin 186 is rotated in The to the movement of rod 140 to the right in FIG. 3. Referring now to FIG; 3, it will be-seen that movement of rod 140 to the right rotates ball cranlc154 in a counterclockwise direction about pivot 156, thus elevating link 160 in yoke 162 to lift clutch operator 1% and thereby disengage clutch 96. To prevent retrograde movement ii of push rod from the clutch actuated position, by gravitational forces acting on the elevated clutch operator or coupling member 176) and transmitted back to hell crank 154, a saw toothed retainer member 138 is pivotally supported on cover member 11% (FlG. 2) to fall downwardly with the downward movement of arm 144. When the arm is in its lowermost position, shown in FIG. 8, an upwardly projecting offset 189 is located at the exterior of cover 15% to be engaged by the teeth of retainer 183 to prevent arm 1144, and hence push rod 140, from being moved to the left as viewed in FIGS. 2 and 3.

Referring now particularly to FIGS. 3 and 4, shaft 94 is projected downwardly beyond bearing 92 and a gear 1% is fixedly secured to the lower end of shaft @4- for rotation with the shaft. Gear 1%} meshes with a gear 192 fixedly mounted on a shaft 194 which extends transverseiy across the interior of housing 26 and is journaled for rotation within bearings M6 and res respectively mounted in the front and rear walls of housing 26. A second gear 2% is fixed to shaft li i to mesh, as best seen in FIG. 10, with a gear mounted upon the upper end of a shaft 204. Shaft 2&4 is rotatabiy supported in spaced bearings 2% supported within lugs 2 on a bracket 21d having an upward projection 212 which is bored to rotatably receive shaft 1% as best seen in FIG. 4. The engagement between the bore in lug 212 and shaft 94 establishes the meshing engagement between gears Ztlil and see, bracket being locked at adjusted rotary positions about the axis of shaft 194 by means of a clamping bolt 214 which passes through an arcuately elongated bore in bracket 21b to be threadably received within the lower portion of housing as.

At the lower end of shaft 294, a gear 216 is fixed to shaft 244 and meshes with a gear 213 which is mounted for free rotation upon a shaft 229 at a axial position upon the shaft. As best seen in FIG. 4, shaft 228 is rotatably journaled in a bearing bracket which is fixedly bolted to the main plate of dial race 33.

Rotary movement of gear 213 is transmitted to shaft 220 by the engagement of a toothed clutch plate 224 with an annular series of teeth 22s on gear 218. Clutch plate 224 is rotatably fixed to shaft 2 but is capable of axial sliding movement upon the shaft. Clutchplate 224 is normally biased into driving engagement with teeth 226 by means of a compression spring 223 mounted between bearing bracket 222 and the clutch plate. As in the case of clutch 96, clutch plate is axially moved upon shaft 229 by means of a yoke 23% having a pair of inwardly projecting pins-232 received within an annular groove in clutch plate 224-. As best'seen in FIG. ll, yoke 23% is pivotally supported from the main plate of dial race 36 by a pin 234. shifted against the action of compression spring 228 by means of a projecting crank 23%? which is accessible from the exterior of housing 2i by passage through an opening 23% at the lower end of housing 26. Both yoke and cranltfifie are fixedly coupled to pin 254, hence rotary movement of crank 236 is transmitted directly to yoke 230.

Referring now to F18 4, a pinion is fixed to' shaft 22d at its outer end to mesh with an annular ring gear 242 which is constructed as an integral portion of work support dial 32. 1

Operation of the machine described above is as follows. Drive belt 48 is driven continuously by means of suitable drive means (not shown). By suitable operation of belt shifter 5t), drive belt as may be trained about either of idler pulley 45 or drive pulley 44. Since idler pulley 46 is freely rotatable upon shaft 36, shaft 35 remains stationary when belt 48 is trained about idler pulley 46 as shown in FIG. 1. When belt 4% is shifted to drive pulley shaft as is driven in rotation and rotary movement of shaft 36 is transmitted by belt 54 to pulley 62 and hence to shaft 64 supported at, the upper end of housing26.

Yoke 23th maybe manually With a thread trained over thread supports 182 to maintain lever 176 in latching engagement with shaft 14E as shown in FIG. 7, arm TM is in its elevated position and clutch 96 is engaged as shown in FIG. 3 to transmit rotary movement from shaft 6:.- to shaft 94, and thence through bevel gears 93 and 1% to shaft 1&2, thus driving both loopcr needle mechanism 12% and thread needle mechanism 122. Assuming that clutch plate 22% is in engagement with gear 218, rotary movement of shaft 94- is transmitted through the gear train in the lower end of housing 26 to shaft 22%), thus driving pinion 244 and its meshed work support dial 32.. Work material supported upon the points 244 in a well-known manner is thus advanced past the stitch forming station at which looper mechanism 12% and thread needle mechanism 122 act upon the work material in a well-known manner.

The two portions of work material to be joined are manually placed upon work supporting points 2 14 by the machine operator. A loop of each portion of work material is placed over a work material supporting point 244 by the operator, and with all clutches engaged, dial 132 is rotated relative to the housings to drive the supported material past thread needle 123 and looper 121. As each work supporting point is rotated into alignment with thread needle 123, the needle is driven in a cycle of movement which finds the needle being driven in a forward stroke radially outwardly through the two loops of the respective portions supported on the particular point 244 out into the path of looper 121 and then driven back in a return stroke to the position shown in FIG. 3. The manipulation of the thread by looper 121 during the reciprocation of thread needle 123 along the particular point is fully described in my United States Patent No. 2,167,104 and need not be repeated here.

Because of the coaxial relationship between drive shaft 6 and the axis of rotation of housing 26 about the fixed frame, the rotative orientation of housings 26 and 28 with respect to the fixed frame elements has no effect whatsoever upon the stitch forming operation. At the option of the operator, housings 2d and 28 may be held stationary and dial 32 driven in rotation relative to the fixed frame or dial 32 may be held stationary and housings Z6 and 28 rotated relative to the fixed frame, or in other words walked around dial 32. It is frequently of great convenience to the operator to manually rotate the dial to remove finished work or place new work on the points. Such manual rotation can be applied to the dial of the disclosed machine without discontinuing the stitch forming operation because the stitch forming mechanism and dial are both rotatable relative to the fixed frame elements and are coupled into synchronized rotation relative to each other.

This flexibility of operation is exceedingly desirable in the case Where endless seams, such as the joining of a turtle neck collar to a sweater body, are to be formed. The stitches may be formed along a portion of the dial race which is readily accessible to the operator so that joined portions of the seam may be disengaged after having been stitched to permit additional unjoined portions to be placed upon work impaling points 2414. The ability to hold dial 32 stationary is also of convenience to the operator when manually placing extremely fine loops upon the WOIi impaling points since it permits the dial to be held stationary while stitches are being formed by the rotating housing in previously mounted portions of material.

Clutch plate 224 is normally maintained in meshing engagement with teeth 226 on gear 218 by spring 228. The gear train between shaft 34 and dial 325 is such that the movement of dial 32 is synchronized with the operation of the looper and thread needle mechanisms so that the mechanisms complete one cycle as each work supporting point 244- is advanced through the area in which the looper and thread needles operate. Frequently, it is desirable to turn back dial 32 so. that additional stitches may be formed in the work material along a certain region.

To perform this operation, the operator shifts belt 48 onto idler pulley 46, thus disengaging the driving connection between belt 48 and the machine. Clutch plate 224 is then retracted away from gear 218 by actuating lever 235, thus disconnecting shaft 226' from gear 213 so that the work support dial 32 may be manually rotated by the operator to whatever position is desired. If necessary, the needles of the stitch forming mechanism may be moved clear of dial 32 by manual rotation of knob 246.

When clutch plate 224 has been disengaged from teeth 2% on gear 218, it is necessary to re-establish the fixed relationship between the positions of the stitch forming needles, represented at the clutch by the rotary orientation of teeth 226, and the rotary position of dial 32 which is represented at the clutch by the rotary orientation of the teeth on clutch plate 224. This may be accomplished either by manually rotating dial 32 or by manually driving the stitch forming needles by rotating a knob 246 fixed to shaft 1% at the right-hand side (FIG. 4) of housing 26. Because a given position of the stitch forming needles in their cycles of movement is capable of being synchronized with any one of the work supporting points 244, the engaging of clutch plate 224 with teeth 226 by manually rotating dial 32 calls for a high degree of precision because of the extremely small difference in angular position of dial 32 between engagement and disengagement. Therefore, it is much more convenient to hold dial 32 stationary and manually rotate knob 246 to move the stitch forming needles to a position where they are in synchronism with the rotary position of dial 32, clutch plate 224 engaging with teeth 226 when a point of synchronism is reached.

Knob 246 may also be conveniently employed to reestablish the engagement of clutch 96 by rotating shaft 94 to align the notch at the upper end of the shaft with the lower pin 172 of coupling member 1'79.

The operation of clutch 96 has been described above and will not be repeated in detail. However, it should be noted that because of the location of clutch 95, upon the breaking of the thread which supports lever 176, the driving connection is broken between shaft 64 and shaft 94, thus disconnecting both the stitch forming mechanism and dial 32 from shaft 64.

In FIGS. 13 through 15 inclusive, a modified form of machine is disclosed. The difference between the embodiment, of FIGS. 13 through 15 and the previously described embodiment resides primarily in the manner in which the operative parts of the machine are supported from a fixed frame. For convenience, the embodiment of FIGS. 1 through 12 might be described as a table model machine While the embodiment of FIGS. 13 through 15 may be referred to as a pedestal type machine. Since many of the parts of the machine of FIGS. 13 through 15 are identical to corresponding parts of the embodiment of FIGS. 1-12, corresponding reference numerals have been employed in FIGS. 13-15 designated with a prime. Thus, the machine of FIGS. 13-15 includes a drive mechanism housing 26 and a stitch forming mechanism housing 28' which is mounted upon housing 26 in exactly the same fashion as housing 28 is mounted upon housing 26. The mechanism within housing 28 is identical to that contained within housing 23.

Housing as is slightly modified at its upper and lower ends from the construction employed in housing 26, however it is believed apparent from a comparison of FIGS. 3 and 13 that either housing 26 or 295 may be constructed from a basic casting. Since the drive train to mechanism within the housing 26' and 28 passes through the lower portion of housing 26, the upper end of housing 26 is closed and thread bobbin assembly 34' is mounted directly upon the top of housing 26.

As in the previously described embodiment, housing 26 includes a pair of spaced arms 86 and 83' which rotatably support a vertically extending shaft 94. A bevel gear connection including gears d8 and 160' couple shaft 94 with shaft 192' which drives mechanism within housing 28. As best seen in FIG. 13, shaft 94' extends downwardly through an opening in the lower end of housing 26' to a clutch assembly 96 located at the lower end of shaft 94.

Clutch 96 is located within a bowl shaped support member 250 which is bolted to the lower side of dial race as by bolts 252. Support member 250 rests upon the uppersurface of a fixed frame plate 254- which is rigidly and fixedly supported by suitable support means (not shown). Support member 250 is mounted upon plate 254 for rotary adjustment about the axis of rotation of shaft 94' by means of an upstanding annular projection 256 on plate 254 which is received Within a bore 2525 in support member 250. An annular collar 257' is bolted to the upper end of projection 256 by bolts 2&0 to overlie support member 250 around bore 258, thereby permitting support member 250 to rotate upon plate 254 about the axis of shaft 94'. Support member 25%) may be locked in any selected rotative position upon plate 254 by a lever 262 pivotally supported upon a lug 264 mounted on plate 254, the right-hand end (FIG. 13) of lever 252 being engageable between projecting teeth 266 on the outer surface of member 250 Spring 26$ biases lever 2&2 into engagement between teeth 266.

An input shaft 64' is ro'tatably supported within annular projection 256 by a bearing 66', shaft 64 extending into clutch 96' in axial alignment with shaft 94'. A drive pulley 62' is fixedly mounted upon shaft 64 to be driven by a belt 54' which is in turn driven by suitable means, not shown.

Since, in the embodiment of FIGS. 13 through 15, clutch 96 is located at the lower end of the mechanism compartment, certain of the actuating elements of the clutch are modified from the structure employed in the embodiment of FIGS. 1 through 12. Yoke 162 is pivotally supported from a bracket 270 which is in turn fixedly mounted upon the interior of support member 253. Yoke operating link 160' is somewhat elongated as compared to link 160 of the FIGS. 1 through 11 embodiment by virtue of the greater distance between bell crank 154 and yoke 162.

Aside from the modified support structure described above and the dimensional changes in yoke actuating link 160 and main shaft 94', the structure of the embodiment of FIGS. 13 through 15 is substantially identical to the structure described above and shown in FIGS. 1 through 11 inclusive.

While two exemplary embodiments of the invention have been described above, it will be apparent to those skilled in the art that the disclosed embodiments may be modified. Therefore, the foregoing description is to be considered exemplary rather than limiting and the true scope of the invention is that defined in the following claims.

I claim:

1. A dial looper sewing machine comprising a fixed frame, a drive shaft mounted in said frame for rotation about a fixed axis, a main drive mechanism housing mounted upon said frame for rotation relative to said frame about an axis coaxial with said fixed axis, a work material supporting dial mounted upon said main drive mechanism housing for rotation relative to said main drive mechanism housing about an axis coaxial with said fixed axis, a stitch forming mechanism housing fixedly mounted upon one side of said main drive mechanism housing-and projecting radially outwardly from said main drive mechanism housing to overlie said dial, means in said housing for forming stitches in work material supported upon said dial, and means in said main drive mechanism housing for coupling said dial and said stitch forming means to said drive shaft to rotate said dial relative to said housings and to drive said stitch forming means in movement synsaid arm for rotation relative to said maindrive mechanism housing about said vertical axis, a stitch forming mechanism housing fixedly mounted upon one side of said main drive mechanism housing at a location below said arm and above said dial and projecting radially outwardly from said main drive mechanism housing to overlie said dial, stitch forming means mounted in said stitch forming mechanism housing for forming stitches in Work material supported upon said dial, and means in said main drive mechanism housing coupling said dial and said stitch forming means to said drive shaft to rotate said dial relative to said housings and to drive said stitch forming means in movement synchronized with the relative rotary movement between said dial and said housings.

3. A dial looper sewing machine comprising a fixed frame, a drive shaft mounted in said frame for rotation about a vertical axis and projecting upwardly above said frame, a main drive mechanism housing having its lower end supported upon said frame for rotation relative to said frame about said vertical axis, a work material supporting dial mounted upon said housing for rotation relative to said main drive mechanism housing about said vertical axis, a stitch forming mechanism housing fixedly mounted upon one side of said main drive mechanism housing and projecting radially outwardly from said main drive mechanism housing to overlie said dial, stitch forming means mounted in said stitch forming mechanism housing for forming stitches in work material supported upon said dial, and means in said main drive mechanism housing for coupling said dial and said stitchforming means to said drive shaft to rotate said dial relative to said housings and to drive said stitch forming means in movement synchronized with the relative rotary movement between said dial and said housings.

4. A dial looper sewing machine comprising a fixed frame, a drive shaft mounted in said frame for rotation about a fixed axis, a main drive mechanism housing supported upon said frame for rotation relative to said frame about said fixed axis, a work material supporting dial mounted upon said housing for rotation relative to said housing about said fixed axis, a plurality of work sup porting points projecting radially outwardly from said dial, a stitch forming mechanism housing fixedly mounted upon one side of said main drive mechanism housing and projecting radially outwardly from said main drive mech- .anism housing to overlie said dial, stitch forming means mounted in said stitch forming mechanism housing and including a radially outwardly pointing thread needle,

and means coupling said dial and said stitch forming means to said drive shaft to rotate, said dial relative to said housings and to drive said needle in a radially outward forward stroke and a radially inward return stroke longitudinally along each of said points as said points are successively rotated past said needle.

5. In a dial looper sewing machine including a fixed frame and a drive shaft mounted in said frame for rotation about a fixed axis; a mechanism housing, a main shaft mounted in said mechanism housing for rotation about an axis extending centrally through said housing, a work material supporting dial mounted upon said hous ing for rotation relative to said housing coaxial with the axis of rotation of said main shaft, stitch forming mechanism mounted in said housing for forming stitches in work material supported upon said dial, means coupling said dial and said stitch forming mechanism to said main shaft to rotate said dial relative to said housing and to drive said stitch forming means in movement synchronized with the relative rotary movement between said dial and said housing upon rotation of said main shaft, means supporting said mechanism housing upon said fixed frame for rotation relative to said frame about the axis of said drive shaft with said main shaft located in coaxial relationship with said drive shaft, and clutch means within said housing for rotatively coupling said main shaft to said drive shaft.

6. A dial looper sewing machine as defined in claim 5 wherein said clutch means comprises a releasable positive engagement coupling gravitationally biased into engagement, means operable by said stitch forming means for disengaging said clutch, and means for maintaining said clutch in its disengaged position.

7. A dial looper sewing machine comprising a fixed frame, a drive shaft mounted in said frame for rotation about a fixed axis, a mechanism housing supported on said frame for rotation relative to said frame about said fixed axis, a work material supporting dial mounted upon said housing for rotation relative to said housing about said fixed axis, stitch forming means mounted in said housing for forming stitches in work material supported on said dial, means including a driven shaft in said housing coupling said stitch forming means and said dial to said drive shaft to rotate said dial relative to said housing and to drive said stitch forming means in movement synchronized with the relative rotary movement between said dial and said housing, and clutch means for selectively disconnecting said dial from said driven shaft.

8. A dial looper sewing machine as defined in claim 7 wherein said clutch means for disconnecting said dial from said driven shaft comprises a positive engagement clutch engageable in any one of a plurality of positions in which the rotary position of said dial is synchronized with said stitch forming means.

9. A dial looper sewing machine comprising a fixed frame, a drive shaft mounted in said frame for rotation about a fixed axis, a mechanism housing supported upon said frame for rotation relative to said frame about said fixed axis, a work material supporting dial mounted upon said housing for rotation relative to said housing about said fixed axis, stitch forming means mounted in said housing for forming stitches in work material supported upon said dial, first clutch means mounted in said housing for coupling said dial and said stitch forming means to said drive shaft to rotate said dial relative to said housing and to drive said stitch forming means in movement synchronized with the relative rotary movement between said dial and said housing, and second clutch means for selectively connecting or disconnecting said dial from said stitch forming means.

10. A dial looper sewing machine as defined in claim 9 including manual means operable when said first and said second clutch means are disengaged to position said stitch forming means at selected positions Within their cycle of movement.

11. A dial looper sewing machine comprising a fixed frame, a drive shaft mounted in said frame for rotation about a fixed axis, a mechanism housing supported on said frame for rotation relative to said frame about said fixed axis, a work material supporting dial mounted upon said housing for rotation relative to said housing about said fixed axis, stitch forming means mounted in said housing for forming stitches in work material supported upon said dial, a second shaft rotatably mounted in said housing for rotation about said fixed axis, means directly coupling said second shaft to said stitch forming means, first clutch means for coupling said second shaft to said drive shaft to drive said stitch forming means in stitch forming movement, and second clutch means for coupling said dial to said second shaft to rotate said dial relative to said housing in movement synchronized with the movement of said stitch forming means.

12. A dial looper sewing machine comprising a fixed frame, a drive shaft mounted in said frame for rotation about a fixed axis, a main drive mechanism housing supported on said frame for rotation relative to said frame about said fixed axis, a work material supporting dial mounted upon said main drive mechanism housing for rotation relative to said main drive mechanism housing about said fixed axis, a stitch forming mechanism housing mounted upon said main drive mechanism housing and projecting radially outwardly therefrom to overlie the periphery of said dial, stitch forming elements mounted in said housing and projecting vertically downwardly therefrom, means for vertically adjusting said stitch forming mechanism housing on said main drive mechanism housing to locate said stitch forming elements in operative relationship with said dial, means coupling said stitch forming means and said dial to said drive shaft to rotate said dial relative to said housing and to drive said stitch forming means in movement synchronized with the relative rotary movement between said dial and said housing, and means for selectively disconnecting said dial from said coupling means.

13. A dial looper sewing machine comprising a dial race, a work supporting dial mounted upon said dial race for rotation about a first axis, a plurality of work supporting points projecting radially from the outer periphery said work supporting dial, a main mechanism housing medly secured to said dial race and projecting upwardly from a central location on said dial race, a stitch forming mechanism housing mounted upon said main mechanism housing and projecting radially therefrom above said dial race, stitch forming elements mounted in said stitch forming mechanism housing and including a radially outward pointing needle, drive means in said main mechanism housing for driving said dial in rotation about said first axis and for driving said stitch forming elements in movement synchronized with the rotation of said dial about said housing and to drive said needle in a radially outward forward stroke and a radially inward return stroke longitudinally along each of said work supporting points as said points are successively rotated past said needle.

References Cited in the file of this patent UNITED STATES PATENTS 1,674,388 Campbell June 19, 1928 1,776,478 Paxton Sept. 23, 1930 2,167,104 De Spain July 25, 1939 2,862,464 Darandik Dec. 2, 1958 FOREIGN PATENTS 931,210 Germany Aug. 4, 1955 331,813 Switzerland Sept. 30, 1958 

1. A DIAL LOOPER SEWING MACHINE COMPRISING A FIXED FRAME, A DRIVE SHAFT MOUNTED IN SAID FRAME FOR ROTATION ABOUT A FIXED AXIS, A MAIN DRIVE MECHANISM HOUSING MOUNTED UPON SAID FRAME FOR ROTATION RELATIVE TO SAID FRAME ABOUT AN AXIS COAXIAL WITH SAID FIXED AXIS, A WORK MATERIAL SUPPORTING DIAL MOUNTED UPON SAID MAIN DRIVE MECHANISM HOUSING FOR ROTATION RELATIVE TO SAID MAIN DRIVE MECHANISM HOUSING ABOUT AN AXIS COAXIAL WITH SAID FIXED AXIS, A STITCH FORMING MECHANISM HOUSING FIXEDLY MOUNTED UPON ONE SIDE OF SAID MAIN DRIVE MECHANISM HOUSING AND PROJECTING RADIALLY OUTWARDLY FROM SAID MAIN DRIVE MECHANISM HOUSING TO OVERLIE SAID DIAL, MEANS IN SAID HOUSING FOR FORMING STITCHES IN WORK MATERIAL SUPPORTED UPON SAID DIAL, AND MEANS IN SAID MAIN DRIVE MECHANISM HOUSING FOR COUPLING SAID DIAL AND SAID STITCH FORMING MEANS TO SAID DRIVE SHAFT TO ROTATE SAID DIAL RELATIVE TO SAID HOUSINGS AND TO DRIVE SAID STITCH FORMING MEANS IN MOVEMENT SYNCHRONIZE WITH THE RELATIVE ROTARY MOVEMENT BETWEEN SAID DIAL AND SAID HOUSINGS. 